DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN STAR WARS!
Dune looked himself over in the mirror as he shaved off a bit of stubble from his face. He was currently in the refresher aboard a Republic venator high up in orbit. After the "unfortunate" death of Master Rikah, control of the Hawkbat battalion had been temporarily transferred to him.
He led the remainder of the men through the rest of the battle until the Republic left the planet of Null. Twelve had been lost, during the final stages of the battle and a replacement was needed. So Dune had Weaver promoted to fill the vacant position left by Twelve. He was more fit to lead Erg's men than Dune himself.
He was sure they would be fine under him.
With the battalion now under worthy leadership and being transferred to a new general, Dune said his goodbyes to the men formerly under his command. He was being moved to the Republic Special Operations Brigade. He felt it was where he truly belonged.
Now he would be able to live up to his namesake and wreak havoc across enemy lines. Be it from the light or the shadows.
He splashed some water across his face to get the last of the shaving cream off and gave himself a final look in the mirror. Satisfied with his handiwork he went to his bed where his armor sat. Freshly cleaned and refurbished.
Dune began to put on pieces of his armor, connecting the interlocking portions until he was fully armored. He stared at his reflection in the visor of his helmet before slowly putting it on. His gaze then fell to a cylinder-like object that sat on his bed.
Picking it up, he turned the lightsaber over in his hands. It was Kip's. The final remainder he had of the boy's memory and of the cruel nature of the Jedi. The kid had been thrown away and killed by his kind. And that Dune would never forget.
He clipped the weapon to the back of his waist and cast a final glance at a photo that hung from his wall. It was of him and Erg..before he died.
Dune left his room and began to walk down the corridors of the venator. He was greeted by the many troopers stationed aboard the ship. They gave him nods and salutes as he passed. Their only recognition, being quick looks as he passed.
Dune eventually found himself in the briefing where the head of the special operations brigade awaited. Dune didn't particularly like Iri Cmas but he was a lot more tolerable than his previous jedi "generals". Along with him wss the commando squad he would be working alongside.
Eta Squad. He had read up on their files. Very effective.
The team consisted of Geld, who was team leader, Weiss, Mojo and Dean. The four commandos sat in the briefing room and turned when he walked in.
"Nice of you to join us Sergeant Dune. I was just about to go over the mission briefing with Eta Squad. Feel free to chime in whenever you deem necessary," said Camas
Dune just nodded as he walked in, standing beside Camas. This mission was going to be an assassination.. The team would be dropping to New Holstice to support the Republic forces there.
Mandalorian Protectors were assisting the Separatist forces on the planet. The Republic was suffering heavy losses and needed a pick-me-up. Dune and the commandos were going to be just that.
He listened to Camas fill the commandos in on the mission parameters. They would be going in and eliminating the leader of the protector forces on the planet. With their leader gone, eliminating the remainder of the Mando forces on the planet wouldn't be a problem.
"Sooo to take care of a Mando ya send in someone with Mandolorian backing to take em down. Fight fire with fire eh?!" Said one of the Commandos.
Dune was certain that this one was Mojo.
"That is correct. Assisting you on this mission will be Arc Trooper Dune." Said Camas
The Commandos each turned to him respectively. He was certain they were all smiling beneath their helmets.
"We get to work with an Alpha class eh? Niiiccceee." Said Mojo.
The team leader, Geld, based on the insignia on his armor stood up and walked up to him, extending a hand.
"A honor to work with you sir." He said as Dune shook his hand.
"Pleasures all mine Vod." Dune responded as the two shook their heads.
~OOO~
Dune and Eta squad stood within the troop bay of the LAAT as they made their descent. The Five man squad was silent, no one said a single word to each other. Dune rather enjoyed the silence.
He wasn't a very talkative person anyway.
The Commandos spent their time checking and rechecking their weapons. He on the other hand was running through the mission parameters on his HUD.
Their target was the leader of the Mandalorian protectors stationed on the planet. Nasty bastard. Plenty of clones kills under his belt.
He was currently using an abandoned building as a base of operations. It was here he was coordinating his attacks on the 327th and slaughtering their men. Dune and the commandos were going to come and put this operation to a halt.
With him out the way, Republic forces would have a chance at victory.
"Touching down at the LZ. Happy hunting brothers." said the pilot's voice as the Laartie landed.
The hangar bay doors slid open, revealing a forested area. Dune went to step out when Mojo spoke to him. The commando had just got up from his spot in the troop bay.
"Hey so is it true that the current leader of the Protectors is one of you? A former Arc trooper?" He asked.
Dune paused, midway through the bay doors and looked back, having formulated his answer in his mind already.
"Alpha-02 is no longer associated with the Republic and thus no longer a member of the Alpha class Advanced Recon Commando trooper program." As he said this, Dune stepped onto the ground of New Holstice.
"And any trooper who willingly kills a fellow clone is no brother of mine." he finished as he began to walk towards the mission area.
The three other commando's began to shake their heads at their companion as they stepped out.
"Whaaaaaaat?" asked Mojo innocently as they left him behind.
Weiss before he stepped out stopped beside Mojo.
"Nice job..Di'kut." He said as he punched the commando in the arm then left.
The team of five transversed through the thick fauna of New Holstice before eventually arriving at the target area. A building deep within the first that intel had marked as the headquarters of the Mandalorian protectors on the planet.
The five took cover within the bush, examining the building from afar.
"Our only entry point is here but it's being watched by two guards. . I need you two to take them out from there, Mojo,Geld and myself will enter with you two in tow. Systematic floor by floor sweep until we reach the target. Understood?" he said.
The four commandos nodded as Weiss and Dean went off to begin their part of the mission.
"Alright lads, let's show our Arc companion how we commandos get things done." voiced Geld over the comms.
"Sir yes sir!" came their responses as everyone moved into position.
Dune watched from his range finder as the two commando's creeped up on their targets. In perfect sync, the two lodged their wrist blades into the two mandalorian protectors' necks, slowly guiding the bodies to the ground. As they did so, the door opened up revealing a third. Just as he was about to report in a silenced round punched into his helm, causing his body to drop silently to the ground.
Beside Dune, Mojo lowered his blaster and nodded.
"Clear." Came Dean's response as the small team regrouped and entered the building together.
The team of five slowly transverse the building with Dune at point. So far they found no resistance. No sign of any protectors, save for the three they had killed at the entrance.
"I'm not liking this." said Mojo over the comms. "Starting to feel more and more like a trap." he finished.
Dune ignored the commando's idle chatter. Trap or not they had a mission to complete. One he was not willing to fail.
Eventually the five ended up in a large hollowed out room. The team formed up as they slowly entered.
"Ohhhhh..I got a bad feeling about this.." whined Mojo.
"Oh shut it ya di-" Dean's sentence was cut off as the lights flashed on and the small group found themselves surrounded on all sides.
From the drab green armor they wore, these were the protectors they were looking for.
"Shebs I knew it!" exclaimed Mojo over comms.
He wasn't wrong..This was an obvious trap but what other choice did they have.
Dune tightened the grip on his rifle.
"Welcome to your demise, clone abominations." bellowed a voice.
The voice was gruff and booming. Two protectors stepped aside as the speaker came forward. Like the others he wore the traditional drab green and tan Mandalorian protector armor.
The only thing that set him out from the others was the Jaiig eyes painted neatly onto the crown of the helmet. That was their target.
He wielded two westar pistols, which sat snug in their holsters, and what seemed to be a knife attached to his right gauntlet.
"Our leader told us the Republic would try something like this when they saw how bad we were devastating their troops." said the Protector leader. Dune knew he was talking about Spar when he said leader.
"Send in your very best to take me out and hopefully salvage this battlefront..but too bad he predicted this and so we prepared. We waited for you to fall into our trap so that we could kill you here and now," he rambled.
He hated when they talked like this. Always the sense of entitlement and bravado.
"Geld, how many hostiles do you count?" asked the Arc.
"Im seeing ten, eleven if we count the kriffin bastard mouthing off now." answered the Commando.
"Alright...everyone pick your target. On my mark we'll fire and begin the elimination process. Be prepared for a fight. If these protectors were trained by Spar himself, they'll be pretty deadly," he stated as the commanodoes nodded.
They had to do this quickly and execute it perfectly. The protectors had the numerical advantage and had their weapons trained on them. His five man team would have to turn the tables and even the odds if they wanted to get out of this alive.
Right when the leader was reaching the apex of his speech was when he gave his signal. In tantrum, the team fired at once. Five green armored bodies dropped in quick succession. He did have to give it to the protectors, they responded almost immediately.
The moment the shots rang out and their comrades fell, they returned fire. Red bolts bounced around the room as Dune and his team broke formation so that they were not big targets.
Dean and Mojo broke left whilst Geld and Weiss took the right. Dune on the other hand burst forward, towards the leader. He fired his rifle, the bolt catching a nearby protector in the arm.
The next round found his throat and dropped him. The enemy leader, seeing the approaching arc took to the skies with his jet pack, letting loose a salvo of rounds as he flew.
Dune performed a combat roll to avoid the shots, coming back up into a firing position. He let loose a round, catching the Protector's jetpack. Before he could spiral out of control, his opponent quickly detached himself from the jetpack, coming into a roll before popping back up.
He fired his pistols directly at Dune. A round hit Dune in the shoulder causing him to grunt and another clipped the top of his helmet, causing his head to snap back and his helmet to fly off. Dune growled, bringing his head back forward as he fired off a few rounds, causing the protector's weapons to fly out his hands. The left side of his head stung, probably burn wounds but he didn't have time to worry about that.
The Protector brought his wrist forward, releasing a cable which shot out and wrapped around Dune's rifle. He then wrenched it free, the weapon clattering to the ground away from them.
His opponent now unarmed, the protector shot forward, knife in hand towards Dune.
The arc took a stance as he was charged. Dune backstepped, dodging a few swipes from the blade. He didn;t know the weapons composition and he wasn't willing to find out. He launched a right hook at the mandalorian, clipping his helmet and rocking him.
The warrior regained himself, launching a quick headbutt at Dune. He felt his nose break from the impact, warm blood gushing on his face. Dune took a few steps back, dazed from the impact.
The mando took this as his opportunity for the killing blow and charged forward, with a stab meant for his heart. Dune, having quickly regained himself, side stepped, trapping the protector's arm, and disarming him.
Using his momentum, he flipped the warrior, slamming him onto his back. Before he could even retaliate he took the knife and plunged it deep into the Protector's chest,killing him.
Dune breathed heavily as he stood up, looking down at the now dead Mandalorian Protector. Hearing footsteps, he turned to find the Commando team approaching him. Their armor was scuffed and full of blaster marks but they were ok.
Geld stepped to him, holding Dune's helmet in his hands and handing it to him.
"Mission accomplished?" he asked.
Dune looked over his helmet, seeing a black scorch mark on the top of his helmet before placing it back on.
"Mission..accomplished. Report it in. We're heading back home."
ELLLLLOOOOO my lovely readers long time no see. Sorry for my vanishing had some life things to attend to buuuuut im back now and so is the story. I will be doing a chapter a week until I'm fully back into the groove but they will be nice and hefty for you all. Next chapter will see us return to our main cast after Siysa's pregnancy reveal so be prepareddd. Remember to fav follow and review! Byeeeeeeeeeeee~